Restrictions on children working
Age restrictions
Maximum hours of work
Shifts
Breaks
Prohibited hours
Supervision
Exemptions
Director-General may prohibit or limit the work a child may do
The following work restrictions apply only to the work of school-aged and young children.
Age restrictions
No minimum age is imposed on children working in the entertainment industry. However employers employing younger children have additional 'care' obligations. Details of these obligations are spelt at under the heading Supervision.
Maximum hours of work
There are two sets of hours prescribed for school-aged or young children working in the entertainment industry. There are separate hours prescribed for recorded entertainment and for live entertainment.
Permitted working hours for school-aged or young children working in recorded entertainment
| Age | Hours during which school-aged or young child may work | Maximum working hours a day | Maximum number of days of work in the previous 7 days |
|---|---|---|---|
Under 3 years |
6am to 6pm |
4 |
3 |
At least 3 years but under 8 years |
6am to 11pm |
6 |
4 |
At least 8 years but under 16 years* |
6am to 11pm |
8 |
5 |
Permitted working hours for school-aged or young children working in live entertainment
| Age | Hours during which school-aged or young child may work | Maximum working hours a day | Maximum number of days of work in the previous 7 days |
|---|---|---|---|
Under 2 years |
9am to 6pm |
4 |
1 |
At least 2 years but under 6 years |
9am to 6pm |
4 |
3 |
At least 6 years but under 10 years |
9am to 10pm |
4 |
4 |
At least 10 years but under 12 years |
9am to 11pm |
6 |
4 |
At least 12 years but under 16 years* |
9am to 11pm |
8 |
4 |
Notes
* Children who have completed year 10 are not school-aged children whatever their age, and their working hours are not limited by this schedule.
Restrictions on working hours do not apply where the child carries out work in a business, or for a corporation, that is totally owned by a close adult relative of the school-aged or young child. Close adult relative of a child means an adult who is a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling or step sibling of the child.
Shifts
A child may only work one shift per day, unless the shift was interrupted once to enable the child to attend school.
Breaks
One hour break
A child is entitled to a minimum one hour break under the following circumstances:
- by 1pm if the child started work before 10am that day; or
- after the fifth consecutive hour of work, if they have not already had the one hour break referred to above.
10 minute break
Children under 13 years must be given at least 10 minutes paid break at the end of each 50 minutes worked, unless the child is starting a one hour break referred to above.
12 hour break between shifts
A child is entitled to a 12 hour break between finishing work on one day and recommencing work on the next. The purpose of this break is to ensure that the child has adequate time for rest, leisure, education or to fulfil any other non-work obligations. Therefore the child should not work with any employer during this break.
Prohibited hours
Maximum of 4 hours work per day on a school day
A child may not work for more than four hours on a day the child is required to attend school for at least 3 hours.
9pm restriction
A child may not work later than 9pm in recorded entertainment if the child must attend school the following morning.
40 hour week
During a seven day period the total of the following activities must not exceed 40 hours:
- any hours the child works for any employer; and
- the hours the child is required to attend school, including any hours the child is required to participate in an external program under the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 (PDF, 1.3 MB) . An external program includes being tutored on set, at home or through a distance education program.
Activities recognised as Work for the purposes of calculating hours worked
For calculating the total hours a child has worked, each of the following must be counted:
- any time beyond 45 minutes spent by the child in travelling from the child’s home to the place of work; and
- any time beyond 45 minutes spent by the child in travelling from the day’s final place of work to the child’s home; and
- where the employer is responsible for bringing the child to work, any time between the child’s arrival at the place of work and the child starting work; and
- where the employer is responsible for taking the child home from work, any time between the child’s finishing work and the start of the child’s journey home from work.
In effect, for the purposes of determining the total number of hours worked, all of the time the child is at work is counted with the exception of the one hour break the child is required to take as stipulated previously.
Supervision
Supervision of babies
A baby may only be employed if one of the baby's parents is present at all times.
In addition where a baby is employed for more than one hour on a single day a registered nurse or midwife must be present at all times.
Supervision of children
Children are to be directly supervised by one of their parents or by a person with specified child care qualifications.
Supervision of children under 6 years of age
Children under 6 years may be supervised by a registered nurse, a midwife or a person with an early childhood or child care qualification under the Child Care Regulation 2003.
Supervision of children over 6 years of age
Children 6 years or over may be supervised by a person with a school age carer qualification under the Child Care Regulation 2003.
Ratios of supervisors to children
The ratio of supervisors to children is prescribed as follows:
- one supervisor for up to two children under three years;
- one supervisor for up to four children who are at least 3 years old but not yet school-aged;
- one supervisor for up to eight school-aged children.
For example, in calculating the number of supervisors needed, if an employer employed three children under three years of age at least two supervisors would be required.
It should be noted that for a child to be directly supervised, their supervisor must not be given other duties by the employer.
Exemptions
The restrictions upon hours, shifts and breaks listed above do not apply to children working in a family business.
The above restrictions do not apply if the child is permitted or authorised under an Act or a Special Circumstances Certificate. For more information, refer to the 'Special Circumstances Certificate' section of the Child Employment Guide (PDF, 202 KB).
Director-General may prohibit or limit the work a child may do
The Director-General of the Department of Justice and Attorney General may prohibit a child from performing work that would ordinarily be permissible or prohibit a child from working for a stated employer by issuing a work limitation notice.
The Director-General will only issue a Work Limitation Notice if it is reasonably believed that the work may interfere with a child’s schooling or be harmful to their health or safety or their physical, mental, moral or social development.
More detail about the Work Limitation Notice is available in the Child Employment Guide (PDF, 202 KB).
Last updated 21 July 2009
Other languages